


The purest love

by themostawesomehuman



Category: The Last Hours Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Babysitting, Fluff, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:48:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25163401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themostawesomehuman/pseuds/themostawesomehuman
Summary: James and Cordelia left their son with Matthew Fairchild. What would Matthew do?
Relationships: Matthew Fairchild/James Herondale
Kudos: 23





	The purest love

“I cannot! For your father will cut my head off and shove it on a pole in front of the institute” Matthew explained, his hand resting on his forehead dramatically. It might not strictly have been the case for his dear parabatai but he was quite sure that Cordelia Herondale would not hesitate to use Cortana to slice him in half with a single blow. 

“Pleases, Uncle Matthew? Please?” Owen begged, embracing Matthew from behind, pressing his adorable little face on Matthew’s shoulder. It was hard to say no to Owen Herondale; his eyes glittering with wonder; his genuine warm smile; his face structure exactly the same as James’. Who could really say no to tiny Herondales? Someone must certainly be heartless to say no to Spawns of Perfection. James has told Matthew many times not to call his son a spawn but it is the truth and the truth shall be told. Just a ride from the Institute to his house won’t hurt, right? Matthew thought quietly to himself. He was never the one good with obeying the rules anyway. James and Cordelia often left Owen in the care of Lucie or Thomas but now that they had all made their escape, Matthew had no choice.

After a few minutes of very little persuasion Matthew sighed, “Alright, alright! Let’s go see Oscar”. Matthew stood up and grabbed his coat from a hanger as he spun around dramatically facing his nephew, “Not a word single about this to your parents, understood? Or they shall publicly execute me.” Owen nodded in silent agreement, his eyes lit up like a lightbulb. 

On their way to his place, Owen only grew in excitement to see Mr. Oscar Wilde, who Matthew feared would be equally as excited. Matthew himself was extremely tired and was ready to pass out on any given opportunity. Given that Owen was his parabatai’s son and his godson, he would have left him in a room somewhere and never looked back. During what seemed to be an unusually long ride, he kept drifting off but jerked back and hands on his blade when Owen yelped each time they hit a dump on the road. 

After a fifteen ride from the Institute, they finally arrived at Matthew's flat. As the servant opened the door for them, the little boy immediately yelled for Oscar who answered his call with an enthusiastic bark. Owen’s smile brightened even more at the sound; it has been a few weeks since he met Oscar, since Oscar was an old chap with a bit of joint problems. 

As soon as they entered the sitting room, Oscar greeted both Owen and Matthew with what seemed to be very wet kisses. Owen giggled as Oscar lay down next to him on the carpet so he could pat his head and give him tummy rubs. As Owen seemed to be entirely focusing on cuddling and teasing the dog, this left Matthew some room to take a bath and asked his servants for hot chocolate and some Turkish delight. He noticed earlier that Owen had barely any of Briget’s wonderful cooking as he was too busy focusing on the book he hid under the table, he was so much like his father, Matthew found it quite endearing. Cordelia had told him that Owen wasn’t allowed sugar at night but at this point, he just wanted his nephew to eat something. She could try to murder and throw his body into the Thames later when she returns.

After Matthew returned downstairs, he found Owen sitting on the floor of the sitting room gobbling down the hot chocolate and a few remaining pieces of Turkish delight. His face was covered in icing, above his mouth a hot chocolate mustache but the biggest cheerful smile on his face. He seemed content and that’s all Matthew really wanted for his dearest nephew.

“These are amazing!” Owen gestured at the plate with his little finger. 

“Aren’t they?” Matthew examined a small piece before popping it in his mouth. It tasted very sweet but children seemed to like them. He wiped Owen’s face to make sure that there wasn't any remaining evidence of treats left. 

As the servant cleared the room. Owen turned to Matthew and asked “do you live here by yourself?”

“Well, if you don’t count the two servants and Mr. Oscar Wilde then yes”, Matthew answered ruffling Owen’s hair playfully as Owen tried to get away. 

“What about a partner? Papa has mam and aunt Lucie has uncle Jess. What about you?” Owen looked directly at Matthew, “ don’t you feel lonely?”

“Do I feel lonely?” Matthew repeated the question. Loneliness was something he never really thought about. Was he lonely? Years before he was lonely, Matthew would admit. He hated himself and there was this empty void in him that he wanted to fill. He filled it with people, spirits and other things that looking back he wasn’t proud of but as time went by, things changed. “I supposed not”, he finally answered. 

“Is that why you’re not married?” Owen questioned him with a bright smile on his face. It’ll be a long time until this little boy has to ask similar questions, there’s so much more he needed to know about the world. It was shocking to think that one day Matthew or James or Cordelia will no longer have to answer every question, for there would be a time Owen would have to figure them out himself. 

“Have you ever been to a Shadowhunter wedding ceremony?” Matthew sat down opposite his nephew in front of the fireplace. 

“I don’t really remember” the little boy answered, his forehead furrowed. 

“Well, they normally asked the soon-to-be-wedded couple, ‘hast thy soul found the one you doth love?’, normally they would both say yes and the ceremony will officially begin” Matthew explained. In the past few years he has been to countless weddings. Everyone seemed to be getting married these days. Everyone except from him. “I haven’t found that person yet. My soul hasn’t and I will wait until I find them”, Matthew answered honestly and shrugged. Owen stared at him, his eyebrows rose and nodded slowly. Matthew knew that Owen didn’t really understand but it didn’t matter. Owen Herondale had so much more time to learn, he had his whole life ahead of him and tonight was only a fragment of it. 

As the clock struck nine they were back again at the London Institute with Owen fast asleep in Matthew’s arms. As Matthew lay his nephew down and covered him with the duvet, he wondered what it would be like to do the same simple gesture for his own son. Maybe someday.


End file.
